1.Players and cards
Belote is played by four in two teams of two, partners sitting opposite each other; two or three can also play, each for themselves. The game uses a 32-card deck, seven to ace in each suit.
The dealer gives each player five cards, three and then two, and turns the next card face up. The deal goes round the table: after each deal the player on the dealer’s left deals next.
2.Taking the trump
Starting with the player on the dealer’s left, each may take the turned-up card, making its suit trump, or pass. If everybody passes, a second round lets a player name any other suit. If everybody passes again, the cards are thrown in and the next player deals.
The player who takes the trump gets the turned-up card and two more; everybody else gets three, so each holds eight.
Whoever takes the trump has to score more than the opponents in that deal.
3.Playing the cards
Players must follow the suit led. A player who cannot must trump, unless their partner is already winning the trick, and a trump played on a trump must beat it whenever it can.
In trumps the order is jack, nine, ace, ten, king, queen, eight, seven; in the other suits ace, ten, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, seven.
4.Card values
The cards are worth 152 points in all and the last trick, dix de der, adds 10, so every deal is worth 162 before declarations.
| Card | Trump | Other suits |
|---|---|---|
| Jack | 20 | 2 |
| Nine | 14 | 0 |
| Ace | 11 | 11 |
| Ten | 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 | 4 |
| Queen | 3 | 3 |
| Eight, seven | 0 | 0 |
5.Declarations
Combinations are declared on the first trick. Only the side with the best sequence scores its sequences, and only the side with the best four of a kind scores its fours. Everything declared is added to the value of the deal.
| Declaration | Points |
|---|---|
| Tierce — three in a row | 20 |
| Fifty — four in a row | 50 |
| Hundred — five in a row | 100 |
| Four jacks | 200 |
| Four nines | 150 |
| Four aces, tens, kings or queens | 100 |
| Belote-rebelote — king and queen of trumps | 20 |
6.Belote-rebelote
A player holding the king and queen of trumps says “belote” on playing the first of them and “rebelote” on playing the second. The 20 points stay with that side whatever happens to the deal.
7.Capot
A side that takes every trick makes a capot: the cards are then worth 252 instead of 162.
8.Dedans
If the side that took the trump scores less than its opponents, it is dedans: the opponents get the whole deal with every declaration, and the trump-taker keeps only its belote-rebelote.
9.Litige — a tied deal
If the trump-taker scores exactly as much as the opponents, the deal is a litige. The opponents score their points, and the trump-taker’s points wait for whoever wins the next deal. The app lets you settle it differently if your table does.
10.Winning
The first side to reach the agreed target wins: 1000 points, or 500 for a short game. When both pass the target in the same deal, the side with more points wins, or, if your table plays it that way, the side that took the trump.
11.Keeping the score in the app
After each deal tap “New round”, pick who took the trump, count the declarations, mark a capot and who held the belote, and type the points of one side; the app works out the rest, spots dedans and litige, and keeps track of who deals.
Tap any deal in the history to correct or delete it, and ↶ to undo the last one.
Let the app keep the score
The app knows these rules: it works out the deal value with declarations and capot, dedans and litige, keeps the belote-rebelote with whoever declared it and keeps track of who deals. Your table’s own rules — whether the dealer must play, what a tied deal is worth and who wins when both sides reach the target — are chosen in ⚙ → Rules.
Download the app